title: Serum ferritin and serum iron changes after cross-country and roller ski endurance races.
abstract: We have studied the variations induced in iron status parameters by four endurance races of different lengths. A comprehensive group of 48 healthy, non-iron deficient, endurance athletes were evaluated before and after four different cross-country and roller ski races: I = Skirollonga, roller ski race for individuals (n = 10), mean duration (MD) = 1 h 48 min; II = Marcialonga, cross-country ski race for individuals (n = 9) MD = 3 h 10 min; III = 12-h of Caldonazzo (Trento-Italy) roller ski relay race (n = 13) MD = 12 h; IV = 24-h of Pinzolo (Trento-Italy) cross-country ski relay race (n = 16) MD = 24 h. In the relays the MD includes both exercise and recovery times. Blood samples were taken before and after every race for the determination of the following haematological parameters: red blood count, haemoglobin, and packed cell volume, serum iron concentration [SI], serum ferritin concentration [FERR] and total iron binding capacity (TIBC). The results showed a constant significant increase of [FERR] after the races (+44.9% in I, +50.5% in II, +51.2% in III and +36.5% in IV, P less than 0.01) while [SI] increased only in the first two races (+28.2% in I and +19.7% in II, P less than 0.01) and showed a remarkable decrease in the longer races (-46.1% in III and -39% in IV, P less than 0.01). The TIBC increased in all the races (except II) to the same extent (range 10%-12%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Research Centre of Sport Performance, Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pattini
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schena
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Guidi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D004906:Erythrocyte Count; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood*; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology*; D012865:Skiing
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D005293:Ferritins; D007501:Iron